All The Pretty Little Girls
by BeccaBo73
Summary: When the team begins investigating the case of a missing girl, Danny comes face to face with the one woman he has never been able to forget. As they race against time, he must confront his feelings for her & still focus on his job. Please read & review!
1. Maggie

_This is my first Without A Trace fan fic, so please be kind. I know nothing about the dealings of the FBI Missing Persons division beyond what I see on the show, so please don't read this looking for real to life situations!_

_I own none of the FBI characters, but Stacie, Maggie and their friends are all my creation._

_This fic is actually based on the Crossing Jordan episode called "Murder in the Rue Morgue", but I am revamping it to make it into a missing persons case. I hope I do it justice!_

**Chapter One - Maggie**

The group of giggling teenage girls walked down the hallway of their high school like they owned the place. And for all intents and purposes, they did. They were some of the best and brightest that Manhattan had to offer...smart, funny, dedicated, beautiful girls. The world was full of open possibilities...all they had to do was reach out and grab whatever it was they wanted. And they knew it.

"So, then, what was the answer to number 18? I thought that was..." One of the girls, a petite blond with big green eyes and an easy smile, began asking before being interrupted by her friend, Kasie.

"Maggie, chill out girl! The test is over and we are free!"

"Yeah, Mags, leave it alone! We all know you aced it. I don't even know why old man D'Angelo made you take that test. You're pulling a perfect score in his class." A second one of her girlfriends put her arm around Maggie's shoulder and pulled her close, forcing a reluctant smile to come to Maggie's lips.

"I don't know, Jen. I practically fell asleep studying last night and you know logic is not my strongest..." Maggie began, only to be cut off again.

"Don't stress, Mags. You did great. You know it. We know it. Mr. D'Angelo knows it." Kasie's blue eyes twinkled as she turned around to walk backwards so she could see Maggie and Jen walking behind her. "And now we celebrate with a few mocha javas and some homemade pie from The Coffee Connection."

"Before the next round of studying begins." Tricia, walking next to Kasie, mumbled. "God, I hate mid-term exams."

They pushed open the doors of the school's main entrance and walked out into the brilliance of the New York City afternoon. "Seriously," Jen remarked, digging through her bag for her sunglasses, "it's October in New York City! The leaves are turning, the air is crisp and cool, and the Yankees are kicking butt in the playoffs. How can we possibly be expected to spend our every waking moment studying?"

"It's a government conspiracy." Kasie remarked, finally turning around and walking forward again. She looked back over her shoulder at Maggie and Jen and said, "Hurry up, slow pokes! We're going to miss the bus and I don't feel like walking the thirty or so blocks up to Coffee Connection."

"There are other coffee shops that are closer, you know." Sarah remarked wryly, finally joining the conversation after hanging up her cell phone.

"Yeah, but Jimmy doesn't work at any of those places." Tricia teased and the group burst out into laughter. Kasie's secret crush on Jimmy Hughes was not really a secret...especially to Jimmy.

The city transit bus pulled up to the bus stop and the girls ran to catch up with it. As the five friends climbed aboard the bus, they noticed that Maggie was still standing on the sidewalk. "Come on, Maggie. Let's go." Sarah called back at her.

"You know what guys, I just forgot that I told Stacie I would pick up her dry cleaning." Maggie suddenly looked distracted, her eyes darting around the street.

"Now?" Kasie and Tricia asked in unison, causing Jen to giggle. Kasie continued, "Get it on the way home, Mags."

"No, I'd better get it now. I'm finally working my way back into her good graces and I don't want to screw up again." Maggie peered down the busy city street and then looked back at her friends. "I'll just get the next bus and meet you there in, like, fifteen minutes."

"OK, girl, but don't even think about dissing us! If you aren't there in twenty, I'm calling out the national guard!" Jen called out to her just before the bus doors closed and Maggie was left waving to her friends from the sidewalk.

_Three Hours Missing _

FBI agent Danny Taylor pushed open the doors of the little mid-town coffee shop and the aroma of fresh brewed coffee, baked goods, and teen-age girls' perfume almost knocked him out. A little smile came to his face as he saw senior agent Jack Malone surrounded by a group of teen-age girls at a back corner table.

"What have we got, Sam?" He asked, walking up to agent Samantha Spade for a run down of the case.

"Maggie James, 15 year old freshman at Stuyvesant High School. Lives with her sister, a doctor at Cornell Medical Center, in the West Village. Maggie was last seen by her friends at the bus stop right outside the school. Her friends were headed up here to hang out and she pulled out at the last minute. Had to pick up some dry cleaning or something. Said she would meet them here but never showed up." Sam checked her notes and then glanced over at the table where Jack and the girls sat. "About an hour later, her friends got worried and called her cell phone. They said they called about ten times and she never picked up, which is apparently out of character for this girl. She's always where she's supposed to be when she's supposed to be there."

"At fifteen?" Danny raised his eyebrow at her.

"Fifteen and on full scholarship to Stuyvesant High School." Sam shot back. "This is a smart girl, Danny. Anyway, they kept calling and finally someone picked up the phone...just not Maggie. The guy who answered said he picked up the phone on the street. He said it was just lying on the sidewalk near the bus stop, like she had dropped it. Martin and Viv are downtown talking to the guy now."

"OK, thanks." Danny walked over to where Jack was talking to the girls. He noticed that Sam was right, these girls did look worried.

"...and so that's when you called the police?" Jack was asking and the four girls nodded in unison. "Has Maggie been acting strange lately? Distracted?"

"We're in the middle of mid-terms right now, so she's a little stressed out." Kasie noted, raking her fingers through her hair.

"Stressed about freshman mid-terms?" Danny asked, joining the group.

"Maggie is all about her school work." Jen added, taking a sip of her water. "She's really hard on herself when it comes to her grades. She's on scholarship to Stuyvesant and worries all the time about losing that."

"Is she in any danger of losing her scholarship?" Jack asked, writing something down on his notebook.

"Not even close. She's smarter than all of us combined." Jen said, gesturing to her friends. "But that's just Maggie. She has a plan and she's focused. She wants to follow in her sister's footsteps and go to Columbia and then Harvard Medical School. That plan is what guides everything she does."

"Has she been seeing anyone special lately? A boyfriend?" Jack tried to guide the girls back to his series of questions.

Both Jack and Danny noticed the girls look guiltily at each other and then look down at the floor. Finally, Tricia looked back up at them and said. "She was seeing this guy, Bobby. But it's nothing serious. I don't think she's talked to him in weeks."

"Girls, listen to me." Jack tried to reason with the girls. "My job is to find Maggie and in order to do that, I need your help. I need you to be straight with me and not worry about getting her in trouble. Tell me about Bobby."

Kasie, Jen, Tricia, and Sarah all looked at each other before Kasie spoke up. "He goes to NYU. They met through some kind of tutoring program Maggie was involved in for local elementary kids. They would meet up at the library or go have lunch sometimes. She didn't talk about it too much, so we figured she wasn't really that into him."

"Maggie didn't run away." Sarah suddenly stated flatly. Danny and Jack turned to look at her. "She didn't run away. Not with Bobby. Not with anybody. She wouldn't do that. Not without telling us first."

Jack glanced up at Danny, and then asked, "How is Maggie's home life?"

"Her mom and dad died on 9/11. They both worked in the north tower." Tricia said quietly, looking down at her hands. "She came to Manhattan to live with her sister after that."

"How did Maggie and her sister get along?" Jack looked down at his notes for some info about Maggie's sister.

Again the girls looked at each other, not sure how to answer. Finally, Jen said, "Maggie and Stacie had a tough relationship most of the time. It wasn't easy for Maggie."

"Why not?" Danny wanted to know.

Kasie smirked, "Obviously you haven't met Dr. Stacie Callahan yet."

"No, we haven't. So why don't you fill us in." Danny was not charmed by these young girls. They were just wasting time.

"Stacie Callahan is the ultimate. She perfect. Gorgeous. Funny. Smart. Successful at a young age. Married to a hunky New York City firefighter until he died on 9/11, too." Jen explained. "Maggie worships Stacie. She's everything Maggie wants to be." Jen looked up at Danny and finished, "And isn't."

"Stacie loves Maggie. Maggie knows that and she loves her, too. It's just that it was hard for Maggie sometimes to live in Stacie's shadow all the time..." Tricia's voice trailed off, not sure how to explain the complex relationship shared by the James sisters.

"Have they had any problems recently?" Danny asked.

"Stacie found drugs in Maggie's bag a few weeks back." Sarah said slowly. "Uppers. She was using them to help her study.Maggie took too many one night on an empty stomach and passed out. Stacie flipped. She took her to the hospital and had her stomach pumped and then grounded her. Maggie was really upset."

"She was more upset about letting Stacie down than being grounded." Kasie remarked. "Maggie couldn't stand disappointing Stacie."

"Wait, where does her sister work?" Danny took Jack's notebook and looked at his notes. He flipped back a few pages and then looked up at the girls. "Is Maggie's sister Stacie James Callahan?" he asked and the girls nodded.

"What's up, Danny? Do you know her?" Jack asked.

"Know her?" Danny said, closing his eyes for a moment. "I almost married her."


	2. Stacie

**Chapter Two - Stacie**

"Her school pictures were just taken recently, so I don't have one of those yet. But, this picture was taken last month while we were visiting my uncle." Stacie handed the picture of Maggie to Vivian, who smiled at her reassuringly.

"Do they still have that place on Martha's Vineyard?" Danny asked her, glancing at the photo over Vivian's shoulder.

Stacie gave him a tired smile. "Yeah. We couldn't get up there this summer because my work schedule has been crazy, so we decided to just take a weekend trip a few weeks ago. The off-season, you know. Most of the tourists were gone so it was nice and quiet."

Stacie ran her fingers through her blond hair and sat down on the sofa in the living room of the apartment that she shared with her sister. She couldn't believe this was happening. Maggie couldn't really be missing. _Hadn't they been through enough already?_

"I have just a few more questions, Ms. Callahan. Maggie's friends said that you had grounded Maggie recently when you found drugs in her room. Can you tell me about that?" Stacie looked up at agent Jack Malone, standing above her with a look of concern on his face, and tried to focus on the questions he was asking her.

"Uppers. I guess they are calling them 'homework drugs' or something like that." Stacie stated, trying to recall the incident. "She was using them to help her stay awake while she was studying. I went in to check on her one night and found her passed out at her desk. I tried to wake her up to get her into bed and I could feel that her pulse was slow. I called 911 and they pumped her stomach." Stacie sighed, shaking her head. "It turns out that she was writing papers for college kids for money. Then she was turning around and using that money to buy the drugs to keep her up while she did the extra work. It was a vicious cycle she managed to get herself into."

"What did she need the extra money for?" Danny asked, moving to sit next to her on the sofa.

"She wouldn't tell me." Stacie looked over at Danny. "She knows I'll get her anything she needs, but..." Stacie's voice trailed off and then strengthened again. "She was so mad at me for having her stomach pumped and then grounding her. She closed up on me. I just chalked it up to her being a teen-ager."

"Did Maggie ever mention a boyfriend named Bobby?" Jack asked.

"Bobby?" Stacie shook her head, then nodded. "Oh yes. He was the one paying her for the papers. Some frat guy from over at NYU. I didn't know he was her boyfriend, though."

"How were things between the two of you?" Danny asked quietly. He was having a hard time maintaining his professional composure. He hadn't seen her in close to ten years, but she was still as beautiful as he remembered. But the fear and pain he saw in her eyes when she learned about Maggie had almost been too much for him to handle.

"It wasn't easy, Danny." Stacie sighed and looked over at the picture sitting on the end table. It was their last family portrait, taken at Mike and Stacie's wedding in 2000. Maggie couldn't have been more than 10 at the time. It had been such a happy moment in their lives, captured forever on film. None of them had known that only a year later their lives would be change in an instant. She looked back at Danny and said, "It was just me and my dad for a long time after my mom died. Then he met Linda and they got married in what seemed like a whirlwind. I was sixteen when Maggie was born. We never really had a chance to get to know each other because the next year I was off to college and medical school. I didn't get home to Brooklyn as often as I wanted. You know how crazy life was during those years." Stacie shook her head and picked at the loose threads on the sofa pillow while Danny smiled. He and Stacie had fallen in love during those years and he knew all too well about the craziness of her schedule...it had ultimately been their undoing. "Before I knew it, Maggie was 10 years old and the junior bridesmaid at my wedding. A year later, they were gone. Dad, Linda, Mikey. Maggie and I were the only ones left." Stacie's voice caught in her throat as she fought back the tears. She was quiet for a moment, so Danny took her hand in his and squeezed it to encourage her. She smiled sadly at him, then said, "So I moved her over here to Manhattan and we tried to adjust. It was tough at first...we had a lot of baggage and it was hard trying to figure out where that line was between sister and guardian. But we made it through. We healed together. Because we had to." Stacie ran her thumb over the back of Danny's hand and continued. "Things were OK. I mean, the stomach pumping thing was a bump in the road, but we were getting through it. We'd already been through worse."

Stacie stood up suddenly, letting go of Danny's hand and walked over to the window. She touched the windowpane and looked out onto the streets of New York. Somewhere out there was her little sister. She turned back to the FBI team and said, "She didn't run away." When they all turned and looked at her, she continued, "I know it looks that way. I know it looks like she was mad at me over the stomach pumping and the grounding, but she didn't run away. I know her. Something has happened to her." Stacie's eyes began to fill with tears. "Someone took her. You have to find her."

Vivian moved over to the window and put her arms around Stacie to comfort her. "We're going to do everything we can, Stacie. I promise."

Danny felt his heart hit the floor as he watched the tears finally fall from Stacie's eyes. He was rooted to his place on the sofa, unable to move to comfort her. He was afraid that if he took her in his arms he might never let her go. That's not what she needed from him now. She needed him to find Maggie. And that's what he was going to do.

As Danny, Jack and Vivian moved toward the front door of the apartment, Stacie quietly said, "She's all I have left, Danny. I can't lose her, too."

Danny turned back to face her and told her, "I'll find her, Stacie. If it's the last thing I do, I'll bring her back to you."


	3. Out of the Past

**Chapter 3 - Out of the Past**

_Six Hours Missing_

"Did you get anything from the boyfriend?" Agent Martin Fitzgerald sidled up next to Danny as they were walking down the hallway to the offices of the F.B.I. Missing Persons Division.

"Not really. Just a rich frat punk from N.Y.U." Danny and Martin turned the corner into their unit's office and Danny noticed the case board. Maggie's beautiful young face, a mirror image of her sister, smiled back at him. "I don't think he even really cared about her. He was just using her to get his term papers written." He looked down at his desk and said, "He had a pretty good set-up going. He didn't want to do his own work so he found a smart, young girl who was easy on the eyes. He charmed her and flattered her with the attention of a college guy, then got her to do his work for him. Apparently, Maggie wasn't his only source for the papers...girls all over the city were writing for him.He had quite an operation going...selling the papers to his frat buddies and earning a little beer money."

"His folks must be so proud." Martin remarked. Walking around to his own desk, Martin was quiet for a moment before asking, "Did you really tell Stacie Callahan that you would find her sister if it's the last thing you did?"

"Lay off, Martin." Danny was not in the mood for his nonsense.

"I'm just saying...you can't make promises like that. You know that better than I do." Martin moved back over to Danny's desk and lowered his voice. "We have no idea what happened to this girl. Right now we don't know if she's dead or alive, a runaway or a kidnap victim. We have barely scratched the surface on this case."

"I know. I just..." Danny shook his head, mentally kicking himself for that lapse in judgement. He had to remain professional and keep his emotions out of this one.

"Just how high is your level of personal involvement in this case?" Martin asked as Danny glared at him. He quickly backtracked and said, "Viv told me that you and Stacie were engaged."

"It's ancient history, Martin."

"Really?" Martin's tone told Danny that he didn't believe that for a second.

"I don't want to talk about it." Danny sat down at his computer and clicked to bring up the missing persons database. He could feel Martin's eyes on his back and muttered, "But we're going to talk about it anyway, aren't we?"

Martin grinned as Danny turned back around to face him and said, "I don't see how you're going to avoid it. Everyone's curious. Especially about why we've never heard of her."

Danny sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Because it really is ancient history. Ten years ago...practically another lifetime. She was at N.Y.U. and I was a rookie field agent who liked to hang out at the bar where she worked." A smile came to Danny's lips as he recalled his pursuit of Stacie. "I was relentless. I went in there all the time, sat in her section, and tried to impress her with stories about the F.B.I. She was less than impressed, but I did manage to get under her skin."

"Wore her down, huh?" Martin grinned as Danny nodded.

"She finally went out with me out of sheer frustration. Then I worked the old charm and she didn't stand a chance. I proposed on our third date. But, she didn't accept until about a year later." Danny grinned again and continued. "I asked her to marry me everyday for that whole year. It became like a joke. Until one day she just looked at me and said yes. It was so casual, I almost missed it."

"So what happened?"

"She got accepted to Harvard Medical school. I was quickly rising up the ranks here in the New York offices and didn't want to transfer to Boston. We tried the long distance thing for awhile, but it was impossible. Med school consumed her, the Bureau consumed me. We never saw each other. I went up there to see her at Christmas and things were different." Danny looked back over at the picture of Maggie on the board, a defense mechanism to keep Martin from seeing what was really going on inside of him. "We couldn't connect anymore. It was almost forced. We spent a weekend at her uncle's place on the Vineyard a few months later and we just knew it was over." Danny straightened up and looked back at Martin, clearing the emotion out of his voice. "So we moved on. I heard she came back to New York to do her residency, but we never hooked up again once she was back in town. She met some firefighter and got married."

"He died on 9/11, right?"

"Yeah. Mike Callahan from Engine 33, I think. I don't know if they ever recovered his body." Danny said quietly. "The last time I saw her was at the memorial for her dad and step-mom."

"Did you ever meet Maggie?" Martin wondered out loud.

"Not at the memorial. There were so many people there and I didn't stay long. Stacie was just trying to hold it together. I had never seen her like that. She was always so in control and together. It's one of the things I loved most about her. Her strength. But that day, you could just tell that she was only seconds away from losing it and there wasn't anything I could do to help. I felt the same way this afternoon..." Danny's voice trailed off again as he looked out the windows of the office building. Realizing he hadn't answered Martin's question, Danny pulled himself together and said, "I met Maggie when I went home with Stacie for Christmas one year. She couldn't have been more than six. Cute kid. We sang Christmas songs around the tree and she wanted me to help her pick out cookies to leave for Santa before I gave her a piggyback ride up to bed." Danny smiled a sad smile and said, "I helped their dad put together a Barbie Dream House and a bicycle for her later that night. It was probably the best Christmas I ever had."

This was the most emotion Danny had displayed in the few years they had known each other and while Martin was glad his friend finally felt comfortable enough to confide in him, he was also worried. "Are you going to be able to handle this, Danny?" he asked.

Indignant, Danny said flatly, "I told you it was ancient history."

"It doesn't sound all that ancient to me..."

Martin was cut off by Jack opening the door to his office and calling out, "We got something on the boyfriend. You guys are going to want to see this."


	4. More Than Meets the Eye

**Chapter 4 - More Than Meets the Eye**

_6:00 a.m. The Next Morning - Sixteen Hours Missing_

"You're up early." Stacie opened the door of her apartment to see Danny standing there. To those who didn't know him as well as she did, he would look as polished as usual. But she could see the concern in his eyes and the tired sadness of his smile.

"I'm on my way back into the office." He replied. "What's your excuse?"

Standing back to let him come in, she returned his sad smile. "I never went to sleep." He looked back at her, the concern growing in his eyes. She smiled at him to reassure him that she was alright and tried to add a teasing lilt to her voice, "So, are you here to get some breakfast or does this little visit mean you have news about Maggie?"

He didn't want to tell her. But she had the right to know how the case was developing. Switching back to professional mode, he said, "I wish I could say that the only reason I stopped by was for some of your fabulous french toast, but I can't. Have a seat." Danny gestured toward the sofa.

Sensing the change in his deameanor, she remained rooted to the spot where she stood andlooked him dead in the eye. "Tell me."

"Stacie..." Danny began, but she cut him off.

"Don't patronize me, Danny." she spat out. " I am not one of those hysterical victim's family members who has to be handled with..."

"Don't you think I know that?" He came back at her, his voice louder and more emotional than he planned. "Do you think this is easy for me? After everything we've been through? Some people want me off this case because they're worried that I'm too close."

She faltered a bit at that last statement. She didn't want him taken off the case. He was the only thing she could count on in all of this. "I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be difficult and I definitely don't want to make this harder for you. I know you're doing everything you can."

He lowered his voice, not wanting to upset her even more than she already was, and extended his hand to her. "Just come sit over here with me." She took his hand and sat next to him, but didn't let go of his hand. He took a deep breath and began, "Bobby Harris..."

"Maggie's boyfriend? The college kid?" she asked.

Danny nodded and continued, "Bobby's little term-paper scam is just a cover for something much bigger. We got a tip from one of his frat brothers and spent most of the night confirming that Bobby Harris is running a teen prostitution ring. He uses the term paper scam to lure the girls in and..."

Stacie's hold on Danny's hand tightened and she looked at him in disbelief. "And you think Maggie is one of his girls?"

Quietly, Danny said, "We don't know that yet. But you told us she wanted money for something, which is why she started selling the papers to begin with. When you found out and she couldn't sell papers for money anymore..."

"She started selling her body?" Stacie pulled her hand away from Danny's and stood up. She turned her back on him and walked into the kitchen. She started busying herself by making a pot of coffee, but her hands were shaking so badly she could barely open the tin where she kept the coffee grounds. "So this is my fault?"

"That's not what I am saying."

"Well, as a matter of fact you are." Stacie spat out and then continued with a tinge of sarcasm in her voice. "I punished her and cut off her means of income, so she had to find a new way to get money. And the only possible asset she has going for her besides her brain is her beauty."

The sarcasm dripping from her voice did little to mask the fear behind it. Trying to reassure her, Danny said, "It's possible that Maggie got caught up with Bobby and then got in over her head. He's a cunning kid."

"My sister is not selling herself for sex!" This time the fear and sarcasm in her voice were replaced with sheer anger. She threw the coffee filter she had been taking out on the counter and glared at Danny, the anger flashing in her blue eyes. "She is a smart kid. A good kid. What you are suggesting is not possible. She would never consider prostitution." Turning to the sink to fill the coffee pot up with water, she let out a little laugh that let him know she didn't find any of this funny. "That's quite a jump you made there, Danny. From selling term papers to selling sex. What the hell has happened to you?" She finally turned to face him and says, "I mean, I know the Bureau has consumed you the way that medicine has consumed me. I see the worst of what life has to offer everyday, just like you do. But at least my job has not yet caused me to automatically believe the very worst about people."

Danny finally stood up and joined her in the kitchen. He watched her as she set the coffee pot up to brew and said quietly, "We have been working on this all through the night, Stacie. I know what this is doing to you and I would not be here telling you if we weren't sure that Maggie was involved in some way."

Stacie turned back to face him and he saw the strong resolve she was hiding behind crumble down around her. Her shoulders slumped and she leaned forward on the counter. She closed her eyes for a moment and buried her face in her hands. Helplessly, all Danny could do was rub her back. She finally looked up at him, "I've tried so hard to do everything right. But I'm a young doctor, Danny...not high up on the seniority totem pole. I have to work the hours they give me and I have had very little success at getting those hours changed. I work a lot of evenings and nights. She was here alone a lot. I've missed so much of her life." The tears began to roll down her cheeks. "We hardly knew each other when she moved in and I was numb from losing Mike and my parents. I made so many mistakes. But she's a good kid. A really good kid, Danny." He nodded in agreement and she continued, "Working in the ER, I've seen first hand what can happen to kids her age. I've seen little girls come in pregnant, beaten by johns, and strung out on drugs. And I swore that I would never let Maggie become one of those girls the way my dad never let me become one. And now look what I've done..."

Danny couldn't keep himself from taking her into his arms as the sobs overtook her. "It's not your fault." He whispered into her ear. "It's not your fault, Stacie. We're dealing with a sick guy who preys on young girls." It felt so good for him to hold her in his arms again and he had to push those thoughts out of his head. She had literally lost everyone she loved...her mother, her husband, her father and step-mother, and now Maggie was missing. He couldn't believe she still had the strength to get out of bed and face the world every morning. Let alone dedicate her life to saving others. His heart was breaking for her.

She pulled away from him after a few minutes and he wiped away a stray tear that was left on her cheek. Looking up at him, she said, "If Maggie is involved in this, it's not willingly. I know I sound like a broken record about this and I know that people always want to believe the best about their loved ones, but I know her better than anyone. I know what she wants out of life and I know she knows how to get it. If she's involved, it's because she is being forced into it. Which makes it rape and..." As that reality set in, Stacie let her voice trail off. She was quite for a moment and then said in a determined voice, "You have to find this son of a bitch, Danny."

"We will."


	5. Natalie Rose

**Chapter Five - Natalie Rose**

_Cornell Medical Center - Twenty One Hours Missing_

Stacie hurried down the corridor of the hospital and met up with Danny and agents Jack Malone, Samantha Spade, and Martin Fitzgerald. They were the last people she expected to see at this time of day. She wondered if this meant something had broken in Maggie's case, and then realized by the looks on their faces that something had definitely happened.

"Dr. Callahan, we need your help." Jack Malone's tone was serious but somehow positive.

"What's going on, Agent Malone?" She looked up at Jack but her eyes darted over to where Danny stood. His face gave away nothing as he ran his hand through his short hair.

"We've brought in a young girl we believe is one of Bobby Harris' girls." Jack paused, allowing that information to sink in. "She attacked the john who had solicited her and managed to escape. We need to have her checked out and we also need to get some information out of her. Obviously, because of what she has been through, she will not talk to Danny, Martin or I."

"Men, in her eyes, only want to buy her and use her for sex. This girl has been deeply traumatized." Agent Spade added.

"We are going to send Sam in to question her, but we need someone with her. We'd like you to examine her, make her feel at ease, and back up Agent Spade. She won't give us any information unless she feels like she can trust us."

"Just follow Sam's lead." Danny said reassuringly. "She may be able to lead us to Maggie."

Stacie nodded, straightened her shoulders, and said, "What is her name?"

"She won't tell us. That's some of the information we need you to get." Jack stated, looking over at Danny and Martin. The girl hadn't wanted to be touched.

Stacie looked at the faces of those standing around her, took a deep breath, and said, "OK, let's go." before she and Sam walked into the examination room.

"Hi," Stacie began gently, slowly approaching the exam table where the girl sat in her hospital gown. "My name is Stacie. I'm a doctor here at the medical center. And this is my friend, Sam."

Sam smiled as well and quietly said, "Hi."

"What's your name?" Stacie asked, looking over her for any visible signs of injury. She had a feeling though that this girls injuries were the kind that are never visible, even to a doctor's eyes.

The young girl, not any older than fourteen or fifteen, had the look of a scared rabbit on her pretty face. She was of Hispanic descent, Stacie guessed and then wondered if the girl even spoke English. "It's alright. You don't have to be afraid. I'm here to help you."

She eyed Stacie suspiciously, looked around the room at Sam, and then back to Stacie's name badge. Once she was confident that Stacie was who she claimed to be, looking down at the floor, the girl said, "Natalie. Natalie Rose."

"Natalie Rose?" Stacie said with a smile, noticing that Natalie spoke with a slight Spanish accent. "Que nombre bonita."

"Thank you." Natalie replied quietly. "It was my grandmother's name."

Again Stacie smile reassuringly, and said, "I'm sure you wear it proudly. I've always wanted a flowery name. My best friend growing up was Lily and I just loved her name." Stacie moved to touch Natalie's cheek, but she moved her head away. "Tell me, Natalie, are you hurt?" Natalie finally looked up at her skeptically and Stacie tried again, "I just want to make sure that the man from the hotel didn't hurt you, OK?"

"Daisy."

"I'm sorry?" Stacie asked, looking over at Sam.

"Daisy can be your flower name." Natalie said.

"Daisy Callahan." Stacie said, trying out the name. "I like it. Thank you."

Natalie finally looked up and gave Stacie a half smile.

"Natalie, I'm just going to take a couple of samples from you, OK? They will help me make sure that you are alright. First, I need to take a hair strand and a mouth swab. Is that OK with you?"

Natalie nodded and Stacie smiled. "Good." She unwrapped a swab and bent closer to Natalie. "This will not hurt a bit." Natalie opened her mouth and Stacie rubbed the swab along the inside of her cheek. "Have you been sick recently?"

Natalie shrugged and said, "My food won't always stay down."

Stacie continued with the exam. Finally, Natalie said, "This man was not like the others they make me have sex with. I think he let me get away."

From the corner, Sam quietly asked, "Who makes you have sex with them, Natalie?"

Shaking her head, Natalie's eyes darted over to where Sam was standing. "No, I can't tell you. They will kill me. I have to go back."

"Sweetheart," Stacie said reassuringly, "nobody here is going to make you go back there ever again. Sam, and her friends outside that you met before, they are from the F.B.I. They will protect you. I promise."

Sam flashed her badge at Natalie, but again she shook her head in protest. "No, the policia are just like the others."

"Not these guys, Natalie. I promise you." Sam said, finally coming closer. "Please, Natalie. It's the only way we can help you."

Again, Natalie glanced back and forth between the two women's faces. "I don't know her name. We call her 'Mother'." She whispered, hanging her head in shame.

_Her_? Sam and Stacie exchanged glances. Bobby Harris had an accomplice.

"Do you recognize this man, Natalie?" Sam held up a picture of Bobby and Stacie could feel Natalie recoil in fear. Stacie held her close and smoothed out her hair. "Who is he?"

"Bobby."Natalie said quietly. "He told me that he loved me."

"How many other girls are there?" Sam asked, not bothering to take out her notebook for fear of scaring Natalie back into silence.

"Nine. Mother keeps us locked up in the basement until it is time to go to work."

Stacie had to clench her fists to keep the anger from rising up into her face. _Son of a bitch_, Stacie thought.

Getting back to the exam, Stacie noticed a pine needle caught in Natalie's hair and removed it with her tweezers. She showed it to Sam, who asked, "Natalie, do you know what pine needles smell like? Like Christmas trees?" Natalie nodded. "Okay, did you ever smell that from the basement?" Natalie nodded again. Sam took the tweezers and placed them in an evidence bag.

Running her fingers through Natalie's hair, Stacie said, "You have such beautiful hair, Natalie. Do you ever braid it?"

"Sometimes the other girls braid it for me. Like my mama used to."

Stacie looked down at Sam, who nodded her approval. She knew what Stacie wanted to ask. "Natalie, these other girls that were locked in the basement with you...was one of them named Maggie? She would have blond hair, like mine, and blue eyes?"

"Maggie is the new girl. She just came yesterday. I did not talk to her because she had to go to work right away." Natalie said quietly.

Stacie inhaled sharply. Maggie was alive. And being held as a sex slave. Stacie closed her eyes for a moment.

"Are you mad at me?"

Stacie's eyes flew open and she looked at Natalie. She took Natalie's hands in her own and looked her right in the eye. "No. I could never be mad at you. You have done nothing wrong." Stacie looked again over at Sam before saying, "I am just very angry at the people who have done this to you. And I want to find them before they can do this to any more girls."

"Me too." She said quietly.

Stacie managed to maintain her composure as she performed the rest of the rape kit on Natalie and then quietly slipped out of the room while Sam asked Natalie some more questions. In the hallway, she handed the evidence bags to Jack and said, "We'll need a little bit of time, but I'm sure the rape kit will give you a few different DNA samples to work with. There is trauma and evidence of rape. Natalie also has Cutaneous ulcers in her mouth. They need to be run for parasites."

Jack and Martin took the evidence bags to give to their lab guys and expressed their thanks before heading back to the office. Stacie leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes.

"Are you OK?" Danny asked quietly, moving closer to her.

"I don't ever want to have to do that again." She opened her eyes and looked at Danny. "Maggie is alive, or she was as of this morning. That's something."

"Finding Natalie is a huge boost for this case." Danny reassured her. "Whatever evidence we get from those tests and what she's telling Sam is going to bust this wide open. We'll have enough to get Bobby Harris and find out where the girls are."

"And 'Mother'." Stacie remarked with bitterness. _How could a woman do this to other young women?_ "How the hell did Maggie get involved in all of this. And how am I going to get her through the rest of her life? There are women out there that do not recover from this kind of thing."

"Yeah, but there are women out there that do. And most of them aren't as lucky as Maggie."

Stacie looked skeptically at Danny. "How do you figure that?"

Danny smiled and said, "They may not have a sister like you."

Stacie looked at him for a long time and then took his hand. "I've missed you, Danny."

Danny took her hand and raised it up to his lips. "I've missed you, too." he said, before kissing her soft skin.


	6. Breaking It Wide Open

**ArodLoverus2001, anmodo, **and** paminae** _- Thanks for your kind reviews! I am so glad you are enjoying this fic! Stacie is a personal character creation of mine and I have really fallen in love with her. I am a huge Danny fan and I think he needs a really strong willed woman as a love match...a woman who will go a few rounds with him, but also brings out his sensitive side!_

**anmodo**_ - I began reading some of your fics and they are great! I'm planning on reading more when I get some time!_

_Here's some more. Just a little technical stuff to get the story moving along a little bit..._

**Chapter Six - Breaking it Wide Open**

_FBI offices - Twenty Three Hours Missing_

"Bobby Harris has an older sister named Claudia Reynolds. She has a rap sheet full of misdemeanors a mile long - drunk and disorderly, solicitation, DWI, breaking and entering. She's a real winner." Jack Malone briefed his team on all the information they had compiled in the last two hours. "Natalie identified her DMV photo as 'Mother'. According to Natalie, he recruits the girls and she delivers them to the customers."

Sam began filling in the details she got from her interview with Natalie. "We think Bobby is slipping the girls some rufies, the date rape drug, to get them to the basement. He's a good looking kid so he uses that to his advantage. He talks them up with the term paper scam, takes them out for lunch, and then spikes their drink. When the girls come out of it, they have no idea how they ended up in the basement. From there, it is terror and intimidation to keep them from running away when they meet their clients."

"Does Natalie know where this basement is?" Martin asked, leaning forward in his chair.

"No clue." Danny answered. "There are no windows. When they go out, Mother makes them ride in the back of a cargo van."

"Sex slaves." Martin shook his head. "Forced to do God knows what against their will. These are the days when I hate my job."

The rest of the team shook their head in agreement, as Jack asked Martin, "What about Natalie's parents?"

Martin checked his notes. "We're trying to find them in Mexico. The cops in the Bronx think the parents went south for work.. We're checking with the authorities in Juarez. "

"Natalie says they sold her for $500.00." Sam added.

Jack looked at Sam, as Martin continued, "We're going to have Natalie look at photos of other missing girls from the tri-state area ranging in age fromtwelve through eighteen. Hopefully we can get some identifications madeand then begin contacting other parents of missing girls. See if there are any commonalities."

"Any common links between Natalie and Maggie?" Jack wanted to know.

Danny shook his head. "Only the fact that they are both fifteen year old females. Natalie grew up on the Bronx, Maggie is from TriBeCa. Different races, different schools, no common friends, or hang outs. The only link they have is Bobby Harris."

"Jack! We've got something here."

Jack and the team headed over to where Vivian was working with Ty Marshall, the lead technical consultant and computer specialist. "The ulcers in Natalie's mouth are caused by cryptosporidiosis,more commonly calledcrypto." Vivian explained. "It's a gastro-intestinal disease transmitted by microscopic parasites found in water."

"About a year ago, the Department of Public Works found crypto in the parts of the city's sewage system." Ty continued, pulling up a map of the five boroughs on the computer screen. He highlighted certain areas of the city, mainly located in Brooklyn and Queens. "These are the eighteen areas that still need to get their pipes cleaned."

"Eighteen?" Danny snapped. "It might as well be eighteen hundred." They didn't have the time to go knocking on doors in eighteen areas looking for 'Mother' and the girls.

"Hold on, Sport, we're not done." Vivian came back at him, knowing this case was beginning to get to him. His concern for Maggie, and her sister, was written all over his face. Turning back to the computer, she continued, "We also identified the pine needle found in Natalie's hair. It was a Pinus Bucksiana...Jack Pine."

Ty began punching up a few more screens on his computer. "It's not indigenous to New York, but is often planted in community parks by city beautification groups." He pulled up a final screenas he continued talking. "Plug in the areas where Jack Pines are plantedand what we know about the neighborhoods that may have crypto, it brings us down to 7 neighborhoods."

Jack shook his head before Danny could say anything else. "It's good work, but still not good enough guys. Chances are those girls are being raped again as we speak. We need that number down to one neighborhood."

Vivian nodded in agreement. "We have some more test resultscoming up from the lab which may give us some more to go on."

"OK," Jack said, turning back to the team, "now we find Bobby Harris."


	7. Pictures

**Chapter Seven - Pictures**

_Emergency Room at Cornell Medical Center - Twenty Four Hours Missing_

Stacie walked up to the ER nurses station, returned the medical charts she had been working on to their files, and flashed a tired smile at her favorite evening nurse, Gloria. Gloria, a no-nonsense and stunningly beautiful black woman, had been Stacie's first friend when she joined the emergency room team at Cornell Medical Center. They were an unlikely duo...Gloria - the loud, boisterous, and sometimes outrageous nurse with plenty of attitude and a heart of gold; and Stacie - the too smart for her own good, 'skinny white girl' doctor with a quick wit and control freak tendencies. But, somehow their friendship worked.

"Your friend, Mary Belle, is in Exam 3." Gloria informed her with mischief in her eyes. "She says she can't feel the baby kick."

"And did you tell her that at 16 weeks the baby hasn't yet formed legs with which to kick yet?" Stacie asked with a grin.

"Nope. I left that for you." Gloria handed her the chart, which Stacie promptly handed back to her.

"Find an intern." Stacie groaned. "I need a break."

"You ain't lying, girl." She leaned over the counter of the nurses station and fixed her gaze on Stacie. Her tone turned almost motherly as she said, "Go home, baby. Let me call Dr. Martinez to come in and cover your shift. Get some sleep."

"I can't sleep." Stacie said, grabbing a bottle of water off the counter and taking a long sip.

"Then take a bubble bath. Call your uncle or one of your girlfriends. Watch one of those mindless reality shows on TV. But don't stay here." Gloria reached up and brushed a stray lock of Stacie's hair out of her face.

"I like it here. I stay busy here and can keep my mind off things. And besides, you're here." Stacie smiled, but then looked extremely sad. "And my apartment is very empty right now."

Grabbing Stacie's hand, Gloria squeezed her tight and Stacie had to force back the tears that were forming in her eyes. The two women stayed that way for a few moments, sharing a silence that can only occur between real friends. Finally, Gloria said, "You know what you need, baby? You need a man."

"Here we go again!" Stacie laughed, turning away from her and heading toward the staff lounge.

Gloria moved quickly to catch up with her, not ready to end this line of questioning. "I just don't understand how you stay single in a city full of eligible men. Do you walk around with a paper bag over your head?"

"Yes. On my way from home to work, work to home, home to work, with a stop at the gym thrown in for good measure." Stacie joked, pushing the door to the staff lounge open. "The only men I meet are either gushing blood from a various wound or throwing up on me. Where exactly do you suggest I meet this man you think I so desperately need?" Stacie picked through the coffee mugs in the sink drain looking for a clean one. "Coffee?" She asked Gloria, who plopped herself down on the couch.

"Not unless you're adding a shot of scotch." Gloria grinned as Stacie wrinkled her nose at the thought of the combination of scotch and coffee. Then she tilted her head and said, "Well, I may be a happily married mama of four, but I am not blind to the fact that they are making F.B.I. agents a helluva lot finer these days. Especially that Danny boy with the sexy eyes and tight little butt."

Stacie poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down next to Gloria. She sipped her coffee and then smiled at her friend. "He is a beautiful man, isn't he? Inside and out."

"You know that fine man?" Stacie took another sip of her coffee and her eyes twinkled mischievously at Gloria over the rim of her cup. Gloria suddenly realized what was going on and slapped Stacie on the arm, almost causing her to spill her coffee. "Oh my God! He's your Danny, isn't he? The one you almost married before Mikey came along? Damn, girl! You sure do know how to pick 'em!"

Stacie nodded and laughed out loud, grateful for the way Gloria was helping to take her mind off Maggie. "Yep," she said, "he's my Danny. Small world, isn't it?" It had been a long time since she had called him 'her Danny'.

"No, girl. It is not a small world. It is a great, big world full of millions of people." Gloria was almost giddy. "The fact that this man came back into your life just when you need him most is nothing short of a miracle. Any of the old feelings coming back?"

"Well, we've been a little preoccupied with the perverts who are holding my sister as a sex slave to think about that." Stacie tried to reign the conversation back in because she knew where Gloria was going to go. "Besides, it's been ten years. He's probably married by now."

"I didn't see a ring." Gloria said quickly.

"Some men don't wear them." Stacie retorted just as quickly.

"The feelings are back, aren't they! Look at you, baby. You're practically blushing." Gloria pointed at Stacie's face and Stacie pretended to bite at her finger. "Did your feelings for him ever really go away?"

Stacie stopped the teasing with that. "I loved Mike more than anything in the world. He was everything to me."

"I know that." Gloria's voice softened. "Baby, I know that better than anyone. I was the one here with you on those nights when you didn't think you'd ever make it without him. I'm not doubting your love for Mikey. I just mean that the way things ended between you and F.B.I. boy..."

"I never really stopped loving Danny." Stacie admitted before Gloria could say anymore. "I mean, we didn't hurt each other, or cheat on each other, or say things to each other that we couldn't take back. We just drifted apart. We fell in love with our careers and forgot to make room for each other. And then Mikey came along and swept me off my feet..." Her voice trailed off as she leaned her head on Gloria's shoulder.

"And nowyour husband'sgone. And that sucks more than anyone can imagine. But you didn't die that day, baby. You're still here. And now, so is Danny. You have the second chance that so many people never get. He's back in your life for a reason."

"To find Maggie." Stacie said, straightening up and swirling the remains of her coffee around in the bottom of her mug.

"Or," Gloria persisted, "it could be Divine Intervention..."

The door to the lounged opened at that moment and one of the volunteers from the main lobby poked her head in. "Dr. Callahan?" Stacie looked up and nodded, as the volunteer approached and held out a brown mailing envelope. "This was left at the desk for you a few minutes ago."

"Thanks." Stacie smiled, opening the envelope and removing a photograph. As she looked down at the photo, her hands flew to her mouth in horror and she dropped her coffee mug on the floor.

"Baby?" Gloria said, alarmed, and looked over at the picture in Stacie's shaking hands. "Holy Mary Mother of God." she exclaimed, putting her arm around Stacie to keep her from falling over and looking up at the volunteer. "Where did you get this?"


	8. Looks Can Be Deceiving

**Chapter Eight - Looks Can Be Deceiving **

_F.B.I. Missing Person Unit Offices - Just over Twenty Four Hours Missing_

"Natalie said she heard kids outside the basement. She thinks there may be a school in the area." Danny headed over to where Ty and Viv were still configuring scenarios on the computer database.

"Okay," Ty said, the ideas already forming in his head as his fingers flew over the keyboard, "we can use that. Let's overlap the crypto and Jack Pine foliage map we got before with all outdoor school playgrounds in those areas." Another map came up onto the screen, but before they could examine the results, Ty was off and running on the keyboard again. "Then, taking into account the auditory range of kids at play, we can most likely eliminate all houses outside of a quarter mile radius."

The final map showed up on the screen, highlighting the remaining neighborhoods. "Which leaves us with two neighborhoods." Danny said, reading the screen. "One in Yonkers, One in Brooklyn. Still a 50/50 split."

"But we're getting closer." Viv said, laying a hand on his sagging shoulder.

"Hang on, Maggie." he whispered more to himself than to Viv and Ty, "Just keep holding on. We're coming."

"Danny, we need you in here for a minute."

Danny looked up to see Jack calling him from the door of his office. When he reached Jack's office, he noticed saw that Jack and Martin were not alone in there. "Agent Taylor, this is Gloria LeMarque. She is a nurse at Cornell Medical Center."

"We met this morning, Ms. LeMarque. I'm Danny Taylor." Danny reached out to shake the woman's hand. He remembered her being quite full of life when they had met earlier that day, but now her face was somber, her eyes were red, and she looked as if she had been crying. Danny didn't like the looks of this. "How can we help you?"

"She's here to help us, Danny." Jack picked a brown mailing envelope up off his desk. He hesitated before handing it over to Danny. "Stacie Callahan received this a little while ago. It was delivered to her at the hospital, but no one seems to know by whom."

Danny had a skeptical look on his face as he took the envelope from Jack and opened it. Jack, Martin, and Gloria's eyes followed his every movement. From the envelope, Danny removed a photograph that caused the bile to rise up in his throat and the blood to boil in his veins. It was a picture of Maggie, eyes wide open and lying in a pool of blood, with bruising all over her body that suggested she had been beaten to death. Danny closed his eyes.

"It's staged, Danny."

Danny's eyes flew open as he looked at Martin. "I contacted some of the parents of the girls who Natalie identified as being held in the basement with her. Each of the parents had given up the search for their daughter, convinced that she was dead."

"Because they all received a photo like that in the mail." Jack finished for him. "But if the girls were really dead, Bobby Harris and Claudia Reynolds wouldn't have a business. It's staged, Danny, to keep the police from looking for them."

Danny threw the horrid picture down on the desk and looked at Gloria. "Where is Stacie?"

Gloria shook her head. "I don't know. When she recovered from the shock of seeing that picture, she ran out of the hospital." Gloria looked pleadingly up at the agents. "I've known that girl for over six years now. And the rage I saw in her eyes tonight was unlike anything I've ever seen. For the first time since I've met her, I'm afraid for her. Maggie going missing was the last straw..."

"Life has finally thrown her the one thing she can't handle. Losing the only person she has left." Danny finished for her and Gloria nodded.

"She doesn't know it's staged, Danny." Jack said, his tone deadly serious. "Is she...?"

"Yes." Danny nodded, knowing what he was asking before he even had to say the words. "Stacie is taking things into her own hands. She hasn't gone off somewhere to grieve. She's going after Bobby Harris." The group could hear Gloria's swift intake of breath as Danny said the words.

"Then we have to find them both first. Before she does something stupid."

"Stacie's smart, Jack. And now she's..." Danny began, but was cut off by Sam throwing open the door to Jack's office.

"Jack, we just got a call from the police precinct in Greenwich Village. Some guys at a frat house called in a 911 about a woman holding one of their brothers at gunpoint."

"Damn it!" Jack pounded on his desk as Danny simultaneously pounded his fist against the wall.


	9. A Sister's Revenge

**Chapter Nine - A Sister's Revenge**

Stacie's hands shook as she aimed the gun at Bobby Harris' chest.

"You're crazy, lady. I told you I don't know what you're talking about." The scared young man was on the floor, backed against the wall of a basement that smelled like sweaty men, stale beer and cigarettes from hosting years of fraternity parties. "Just put the gun down."

"Newsflash, pervert. Forcing an underage girl to have sex does not make her a prostitute. It makes her a rape victim. Which makes you a rapist. Do you know what they do to rapists in prison, pervert?" Stacie asked him, cocking her head to one side. "You don't want to go there. So really, you should be thanking me right now."

Bobby's eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out if Stacie was serious or not.

"Her name was Maggie." Stacie hissed through clenched teeth. "She was fifteen and had her whole life ahead of her. A life that should have been filled with friends and fun and college. But you took that away from her, you son of a bitch. Maggie! You say her name."

Bobbyremained silent as he looked down the barrel of the gun she pointed at him, not knowing what to do.

"Say it!" Stacie screamed at him. "I'm not a scared little fifteen year old girl who is bowled over by your charm. I know exactly what you are. I should have known you wouldn't know what to do with a real woman when you met one."

"Look, you bitch..." He began, his scared demeanor turning cold as ice. But Stacie wasn't in the mood to hear what he had to say.

"No, you look. Take a good look around." Bobby's eyes darted around the empty basement. "No witnesses." Stacie continued. "I pull this trigger and I get off on self-defense. I'm the grieving sister, after all, here in a last ditch effort to save the girls you are selling into the world of sex slaves. While you, you low life piece of shit, will go on to take your reserved seat in Hell."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He said, snarling at her.

"Oh yeah?" She snapped back at him, her voice suddenly calm and menacing. "Well, you're not me. "

"Go to Hell." he dared her, but she could tell by the scared look in his eyes that his bravado was completely false.

"You first." She replied, cocking the gun and lowering it so that it was now aimed at his crotch.

"Stacie! Put the gun down." Danny, Jack and Sam came down the basement stairs, guns in position. Jack and Sam aimed at Bobby, while Danny lowered his gun and moved over to where Stacie stood. "Don't do this, Stacie. It'll only make things worse. Put it down."

Stacie didn't take her eyes off Bobby as she let out a sadistic little laugh. "There is no possible way for this to get any worse. I am not going to let this sicko hurt anyone else's little girl. He deserves to die."

"That is not your call." Danny said, reaching for the gun.

Stacie moved out of reach, still aiming at Bobby. "It is today." She directed her words back at Bobby. "She was my sister." With that statement, her voice began to shake and the tears formed in her eyes. "You took her innocence. And the innocence of all those girls. That was never yours to take!" She screamed, now aiming the gun at his head. "And after you killed her spirit, then you finished off the rest of her. Now you have to pay for that."

"She's not dead, Stacie." Danny said suddenly, causing Stacie to falter. But she never took her eyes off Bobby or lowered her gun.

"She is. I have a picture. The son of bitch sent me a picture..."

"It's staged, baby. She's not dead." Danny lowered his voice and let that information sink in. He pulled the photo out of his pocket and held it up. "Look. Her eyes are red in the photo. Look, dammit." Stacie slid her eyes over to that awful photo he held in his hand, but she didn't lower the gun. "When you take a photo of a dead person, they can't get red-eye. It has something to do with the corneas clouding over. Maggie has red-eye. She was alive when this photo was taken. She's alive, Stacie."

"But if you shoot this scumbag, our chances of finding her will be almost nothing." Sam said, quietly. "You don't want to do this, Stacie. We know you don't. You have dedicated your life to saving people. Give Danny the gun. Let us handle this."

"I promised you we'd bring her back to you. We can't do that unless we can make him tell us where she is." Danny moved closer and this time Stacie didn't move. "Now give me the gun." He cautiously reached out for the gun while Sam and Jack moved in on Harris. Stacie's shaking fingers released their hold on the gun and Danny removed it from her hands, dropped it on the ground, and kicked it out of the way. Stacie fell into his open arms and he wrapped them around her as the sobs overtook her. Fighting back his own tears, he held on to her with all he had as she cried the events of the last twenty four hours away.

Jack and Sam cuffed Harris and led him upstairs. Sam turned back to Danny and said, "We've got this. We'll call you if he gives us anything. Go on and take her home."


	10. Old Feelings Die Hard

**Chapter Ten - Old Feelings Die Hard**

Danny and Stacie were silent as he drove her back to her apartment and accompanied her upstairs. Kicking off her shoes, Stacie collapsed on the couch. Danny sat down next to her, lifted her legs across his lap and began to massage her feet like he used to when they were dating. It was quite intimate, but as comfortable as it had always been. Giving him a tired smile, Stacie leaned her head back against the sofa and whispered, "Mmmmm. I've missed this."

"Don't fall asleep on me now. You're doing mine next." Danny teased, glad to see the tension draining away from her face and shoulders.

"I guess it's the least I can do." She said, closing her eyes and enjoying the slight pressure he was applying to her feet. "I may not be acting like it, but I really am grateful for all you and the team are doing for Maggie."

"We're going to find her, Stace." Danny switched over to massage her left foot. "Martin located Natalie's parents. They're down in Monterey. Turns out they've been looking for Natalie for months. He found a description of their search and a missing persons report. They even put up a small reward, whatever they could afford."

"So they didn't sell her?"

"Nope. Big, fat lie." Danny responded, matter of factly.

"Wonder who told it." Stacie remarked dryly. "Did they get a photo?"

Danny nodded and Stacie closed her eyes again. She was quiet for a few minutes before whispering, "I could have killed him."

"But you didn't." Danny said quietly, knowing that they would get around to this topic before long.

"Only because you arrived with the calvary." Her eyes remained closed and he could hear the terror in her voice. She had frightened herself with her actions tonight. "But I went there with every intent on killing him. I systematically went home, found my dad's gun, and took it there planning to use it."

"Stacie..."

Stacie swung her legs off of Danny's lap and sat up. She buried her face in her hands and shook her head. "I took an oath, Danny. 'First do no harm.' I wanted to harm him in the worst way imaginable."

"But you didn't." Danny repeated. "You came to your senses and handed over the gun." Danny put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. "Come here. It's OK. It's over now."

"It won't really be over until Maggie is home." She whispered, settling in next to him. He was warm and familiar and smelled like Danny. A slight smile came to her face. She had always loved the way he smelled...so rugged and masculine.

"What I want to know is...where the hell did you get a gun? And when did you learn how to use it?" Danny teased, trying to lighten the mood. "If I remember correctly, you and I have had a few choice arguments over gun control legislation."

"Do you remember where I lived while I was at Harvard?" She asked him incredulously. "It was scary. The first time my dad came up to visit, he told me to move. Then he looked at my finances." Stacie laughed at the memory. "When I came home from my clinical the next day, he had purchased the gun and was showing me how to use it."

"Your dad?" Danny laughed, shaking his head. "The straight laced accountant? Was showing _you_ how to use a gun."

"We had a 'Daddy and Me Day' at the gun range that afternoon." Danny chuckled and Stacie snuggled in closer, enjoying the comfort his closeness was providing. "As soon as he left, I put it back in it's box, locked it up, and never touched it again." She paused. "Until today." The tears suddenly welled up again in her eyes and she whispered, "I almost shot him, Danny. I almost lowered myself to his level and was going to take a human life." She wiped away the tears that had spilled out onto her cheeks. "God, all I seem to do is cry. I'm such a lightweight."

Danny pulled her even closer, and wrapped his arms around her. "I promise not to tell anyone."

With that one statement, Stacie released the damn of emotions inside her and buried her head in Danny's shoulder. She cried for all that she had lost, all those she had loved, and for the battle for a normal life that her sister was going to have to endure.

Danny just held her through it all, never once demeaning her by telling her that everything was going to be alright. In truth, no one really knew if anything was going to be alright ever again. Her sobs quieting, Stacie moved her head and just rested it on Danny's shoulder. Danny looked down at her and asked, "Better now?" Their faces were only inches a part.

Stacie looked up at Danny, and their eyes locked. It seemed as if the last ten years just melted away. In her eyes, Danny saw a glimpse of the girl he had once known...the girl who's entire life was in front of her andhad yet to be touched by tremendous sorrow. The girl who opened up his broken heart and reminded him that life was worth living.

"I'm always better when you're here." Stacie instinctively reached up and touched his face, tracing his strong jaw line with the tip of her finger. "I've missed you, Danny."

"I've missed you, too." In his mind, Danny knew this was wrong. She was, despite their past and his feelings for her, the family member of a victim. Which meant she was off limits. His duty to her was to do everything he could to find her sister.

But in this moment, after all the hell she had been through in the past twenty four hours, the Stacie he had fallen in love with so many years agoneeded him. And Stacie James Callahan was a woman who prided herself on not needing anything from anyone.

Pushing all thoughts of the F.B.I. out of his mind, Danny responded to this woman he could never seem to get out of his heart. He finally admitted to himself that he needed her to need him. He needed anything from her that she was willing to give. Danny closed the short distance between their lips in one swift motion. He met her tongue with his, and ran his free hand through her hair. The kiss was as sweet and familiar as he had remembered. As Danny pulled her closer to him, Stacie responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and caressing the tender skin at the nape of his neck. Danny let out a low groan and they lost themselves in the passion that had been simmering between them since they had re-entered each others lives.

It was at that moment that the ringing of Danny's cell phone broke through the haze of passion they shared. Stacie sat up and tried to re-gain control of her emotions as Danny flipped his phone open. "Taylor." He said, trying to clear his throat and head.

Jack's voice came through the receiver of Danny's phone. "We've got a location on Mother."

Danny sat up straighter and looked at Stacie while talking to Jack. "Bobby Harris gave up his sister?"

"No," Jack replied, "but we got some more test results in. There was high traces of lead tin oxide in Natalie's hair."

"Isn't that the lead in old paint?" Danny asked

"Specifically in houses built before 1955. Ty accessed the county assessor's office, plugged in his formula and came up with a house in the southeast corner of Yonkers."

Danny wrote down the address and stood up. "OK, I'll be right there."

Stacie stood up, alarm in her eyes. "They found them?"

"Yeah." Danny said,brushing her lips with a quick kissand heading for the door. "I'll call you as soon as Maggie is in our custody."

"Oh no you won't." Stacie said, following him out the front door of her apartment. "I'm coming with you."

"No." Danny spun around and stared her down. But the look on her face told him that if he didn't bring her, she'd find her own way there. He sighed, and said, "OK, but you have to stay in the car."

"I promise." She said, heading for the elevator.


	11. Reunion

_Thanks again for the reviews everyone! There is one more chapter to go after this one..._

**Chapter Eleven - Reunion**

As Danny pulled the car to a stop in front of the house in Yonkers, Stacie couldn't believe her eyes. From the outside, it was just another one of a thousand houses on a tree lined street in a neighborhood not unlike the one she grew up in. The only difference was the menagerie of police cars, F.B.I. vehicles and ambulances assembled on the front lawn. A shudder ran through Stacie as she watched the chaos unfold in front of her. No one would have ever imagined that something as seedy as a sex slave operation was occurring in a place as ordinary as this.

"Stay here." Danny warned her, opening the driver side door and getting out.

"I said I would." Stacie said, unable to take her eyes off the scene.

"I mean it, Stacie." Danny leaned into the car and his gaze turned steely and serious. "No matter what happens."

The tone of his voice caused her to turn to look at him. "I promise." She whispered. "Now, go get my sister and those girls."

Stacie had to grin as Danny hit the car's remote control door lock as he took off up the walkway. Did he really think that was going to keep her inside the car? But when she tried the door handle out of pure defiance, she learned that she was locked inside a car specially made for the F.B.I. - it could only be opened from the outside or with the remote. She had wondered why he had allowed her to come along without much of a fight and now she knew.

Stacie watched Danny meet up with the Missing Persons Unit Team and after only a few moments they all disappeared inside the house. Stacie drew in her breath as she watched Danny draw his gun and closed her eyes in a silent prayer...for Maggie, for Danny, for the other girls, and for the safety of everyone involved in the rescue.

A commotion outside the car caused Stacie's eyes to fly open. Martin and Sam emerged from the house with a woman in hand cuffs. _Mother._ Stacie looked at the woman's short, stylish hair cut and fashionable outfit in surprise. This woman didn't look like a monster at all. Looks can too often be deceiving.

Once 'Mother' was safely in the custody of the authorities, the front door of the house opened once more. Danny, Jack, and Vivian came out with a crowd of young girls. There were so many of them. Almost immediately, Stacie recognized the familiar soft, blond curls that framed her sister's confused face.

"Maggie!" Stacie screamed. She tried the door handle again, momentarily forgetting that she was locked in. "Damn it, Danny." she muttered, turning toward the window and started pounding on the glass with her palm. "Maggie!" she screamed again.

Suddenly, despite all the chaos going on outside the car, Maggie stopped and turned toward the car where Stacie was. "Stacie!" she called, the tears forming in her eyes as she began running to the car.

Seeing what was taking place, Danny unlocked the car with his remote and motioned for a nearby police officer to open the car door for Stacie. She practically fell out of the car in her haste, but regained her balance and ran toward her sister. Only when Maggie was safe in her arms did Stacie allow herself to exhale. "Oh, Maggie. Maggie." She repeated her sister's name over and over again, holding her closer each time she said it. Maggie buried her face in the warmth of her sister's coat and held on tighter than she had ever held on to anything in her life.

"I'm sorry." Maggie whispered through her tears. "I'm so sorry."

"No." Stacie pulled away slightly from her sister, caught her face in her hands and looked her straight in the eye. "You have nothing to be sorry for. Do you hear me? Nothing." For the first time, Stacie's eyes scanned Maggie's appearance. She was wearing make-up, which Stacie suspected covered up various bruises. But other than that she looked okay, even though Stacie knew that she was far from okay. Like Natalie, Maggie would have injuries to her heart and soul that only time and love could heal. Maggie finally nodded and Stacie pulled her back into her embrace.

"I love you. I love you so much." Stacie said into her sister's hair. "I just don't want another moment to pass without you hearing me say that." With those words, Maggie began to sob and Stacie held her tighter. "I've got you." Stacie whispered, letting her sister cry out all that had happened to her. "I've got you, Maggie. And I promise not to let you go ever again."


	12. Christmas Memories

_Well, we have come to the end of this fic. It gets a little hokey at the end, but I am a sucker for a happy ending! I hope everyone has enjoyed it!_

**Epilogue - Christmas Memories**

"I have filed my last report and I am outta here!" Danny closed the case file he was working on with a dramatic flourish and spun around in his chair to face Martin. Martin grinned and just shook his head.

"Going home early on Christmas Eve? Has this ever happened to you before?" Martin asked, looking at the research he was pulling up on his computer.

"Has it ever happened to anyone?" Danny quipped, rolling his chair back and forth across the floor.

Sam looked up from her own desk and smiled. "It makes it even sweeter when you have someone to go home to, doesn't it Danny?"

"Yes, it does." Danny agreed, smiling at Sam.

"It was really good to see Stacie and Maggie at the Christmas party last night." Vivian said, passing through the bullpen. "Maggie looked really good. How's she doing?"

"One step at a time, you know?" Danny said, a bit of the playfulness leaving his voice. "Stacie got her the best therapist in the city and Maggie still goes twice a week. Stacie's bosses finally changed her hours, so she's working days and is home in the evenings. She and Maggie are closer than ever." Danny smiled, but there was still a sadness to it. "But it's the little things that let you know Maggie's not alright yet. She still has nightmares and jumps every time my phone rings. She knows that when I get a call, it means someone else has gone missing. And that brings the memories flooding back . But, she's remembered how tolaugh and that's a good thing."

"Good." Vivian smiled, putting a hand on Danny's shoulder. "Now go home to your girls."

"My girls." Danny said, smiling again. "I like the sound of that." He stood up, put on his suit jacket and headed for the door. "Have a Merry Christmas everyone."

On his way over to Stacie's apartment, Danny thought back on the last few months. After Maggie was safe, Danny and Stacie picked their relationship up right where they left off...only as grown ups this time. And so far they were getting things right. Getting Maggie used to having Danny around was a bit of a tough transition, but it was working out alright. Stacie liked having Danny as a positive influence in Maggie's recovery...a constant reminder that there are good men out there and not all of them are like the monsters she encountered during her ordeal.

Danny stepped into the apartment and smelled all the things a home should smell like at Christmas time...the pine scent of the Christmas tree in the corner, the spicy smell of fresh baked gingerbread, the smoky citrus smell of the orange peels burning in the fireplace, and the mouth watering scent of the onions and garlic Stacie put in her famous spaghetti sauce. He was home.

Classic Christmas carols were playing on the living room stereo, so Stacie didn't hear him come into the apartment. She was at the stove stirring the sauce and humming along to the music. Dropping his jacket over the back of one of the dining room chairs, he snuck up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Something smells very good." He said, nuzzling the soft skin of her neck.

Stacie smiled and asked, "Are you talking about me or the sauce."

"Both." Danny teased before his lips found the sensitive skin just behind her earlobes. Stacie could take it no longer...he knew just how to make her knees weak. She turned in his arms and their lips met in a passionate welcome home kiss.

"Get a room, will ya?" Maggie's voice interrupted their kiss and Stacie hid her embarrassed face in Danny's chest. But Maggie was in a good mood and her teasing was playful.

Danny wrapped his arms tighter around Stacie and teased, "We had a room. We had the entire kitchen before we were so rudely interrupted."

Ignoring him, Maggie grinned and asked, "Isn't there some sort of federal health code about swapping spit within 5 feet of my dinner?" Maggie grabbed a carrot and munched on it as she continued, "You should check that out, Dan."

Danny reluctantly let Stacie go and said, "I'll get right on it , Mags." He reached for the carrot Maggie was munching on, but she held it out of his reach and giggled.

"Children, behave!" Stacie scolded, getting back to her sauce.

"Oh stop," Danny said, playfully slapping her on the rear end. "I know how much you love it when I misbehave."

"Hello," Maggie said, pretending to be mortified, "I'm still in the room."

"Well, then why don't you make yourself useful." Stacie said, pulling the salad fixings out of the refrigerator. "Here, toss a salad. Uncle Ed and Aunt Anna will be here soon."

"I'll help." Danny said, picking up a chopping knife. "If you're going to be armed, I want to be too."

The three of them fell into an easy rhythm as they helped prepare the Christmas Eve dinner together. They joked about the team's Christmas party the night before and the gifts Maggie had exchanged with her friends earlier that day. And as Danny stood there between his two girls he looked around at the beautiful Christmas decorations all around him, the presents piled high under the tree, the fire crackling in the fireplace, the stockings hung from the mantle, and the Christmas cookies arranged on a plate on the coffee table. And he knew that this was going to be his best Christmas ever.


End file.
